Matteo Garrone on Directing an Actor Imprisoned for Double Murder in His Surreal Comedy Reality

At last year’s Cannes Film Festival, Matteo Garrone’s competition entry, Reality, drew headlines—not just for its surreal, fairytale-esque storyline and winning central performance—but because the lead actor who provided said performance is currently 20 years’ deep into a lifetime prison sentence for murder. This plot twist may not be as shocking to those familiar with the legal system in Italy, however, where a life sentence is a relatively modest 28 years, and prisoners such as Aniello Arena—a former Mafia hit man—are occasionally able to perform in theater troupes with fellow inmates. It was during one of these performances, at Tuscany’s Volterra Detention Center, where Garrone first set eyes on Arena, in full clown costume no less, and decided that he wanted to collaborate with him.

After unsuccessfully petitioning for Arena to appear in his gritty 2008 breakout film, Gomorrah—which earned Garrone his first Grand Prix at Cannes and a vote of confidence from Martin Scorsese—the director was able to obtain permission from a judge so that Arena could leave prison during the day to star in Reality. While on his artistic furloughs, Arena lost himself in the role of Luciano, a Neapolitan fishmonger who becomes desperate to star in the Italian version of the claustrophobic reality series Big Brother. (Luciano’s ambition is so tragically delusional and, at times, darkly comic that Reality has been compared to The King of Comedy.) With his star (temporarily) busted from prison and a script in place, Garrone faced only two other challenges: He had to provide police with a shooting schedule that could not be changed—a near impossibility in the film world—so that they could check in on the production’s star at any moment. And he had to teach Garrone, who had never acted for film or television, how to perform in front of a camera.

In anticipation of Reality’s U.S. release on Friday, Garrone phoned the Hollywood Blog earlier this month (with a translator close by) to discuss the inspirations for and very unique obstacles in making his second Grand Prix– winning film.

Julie Miller: Let’s begin with the idea for the script. I read that you work inside the same building as the Italian Big Brother’s casting department. Was that proximity to the casting process what inspired you?

Matteo Garrone: The idea actually came from a true story that happened to my wife’s brother. [My brother-in-law] knew that I was working in Rome in the building where they were doing auditions, so he asked my wife if he could call and ask me if I knew someone there for an audition. So that’s how it started. He [eventually] came to Rome to audition, and his story inspired the film. We eventually got to talking about the idea and developed the story and made this movie.

So your brother-in-law was the inspiration for the film. Did working on Realityand seeing how well it did at Cannes satisfy any of the ambitions he had when he auditioned for Big Brother?

Well, he helped us and came to set to talk with [Arena]. Now he is fine and he has a fish shop in Naples, which is going very well. So I would say that the real story had a happy ending.

The movie talks about desires and illusion. Everybody wants to escape from their everyday life to succeed because they are not satisfied. That is the saddest part of this story. He has everything, but it is not enough. It starts like a game for [Luciano], and then the game slowly changes and becomes serious for him to be on television. For me, it’s not important that it’s Big Brother—Big Brotheris like the MacGuffin in Hitchcock films, but it is his desire. He starts to lose himself. For him, to be on television, it becomes a problem—not a narcissistic problem because he wants to be famous or rich. But to be on television, for him, is to prove to everyone that he exists. It’s a proof of existence. That’s where the movie turns in the dark[er] parts. The second part becomes much more psychological and introspective, so it becomes darker and darker. His dreams became a nightmare. The movie is about the reality of the dreams.

Aniello is able to convey this sense of genuine childlike wonder in the film (when obsessing over Big Brother, and dreaming of being a potential cast member). That innocence seems especially impressive considering his history.

He is a great, great actor. I saw him in theater many times, and I really was a big fan of him and his company. There is something about him that is naïve, and that is very important for the character. It’s very pure. He followed the journey of this character, creating a strong relationship, a marriage, between person and character. You can see—there is a light in his eyes. There is a surprise that happens when he sees something new. I really had a great time working with him, and he was so close with the character of Luciano that [while filming] the second part, it was very sad to see where the character, and Aniello, would end up emotionally.

You had to petition with a judge for Aniello to be able to appear in the film. Did the judge or court have any restrictions regarding what he could or could not do on camera? Did they end up having any input into the script?

No, we sent the police the shooting schedule so that they could always come to the set to see where Aniello was. Of course, during the day he was on set, and at night, he went back to jail. The police knew where we were shooting at all times. I remember the first time that they came looking for him, he was dressed like a drag queen. I remember the face of the police . . . they were very disgusted. [Blogger’s note: Garrone was so pleased with their reactions that he ended up using a shot with them in the background in the final cut of the film.] We never had a problem with the police, though. We worked very well together. I think it has been a great opportunity also for the state to show how a man that paid his debt with justice learned to work again. He started to learn the work of acting 14 years ago in the theater company. He learned to work, and when I decided to cast him, I cast him because I knew what a great actor he was.

This was his first film. How did you prepare him for acting in front of a camera?

Well, I have a way of working that is very similar to theater because I [usually] shoot in sequence from the very beginning until the end. So the actor can follow on the journey of the character. So it is very similar to theater. Also, I like to leave a lot of freedom to the actor during his performance. It’s very similar to the way the director of [Aniello]’s company used to work. So for him, he said that it was very natural, the transition from theater to cinema. He said that he enjoyed the experience. I am sure that he will do other movies and television series—at least, I hope that for him.

At the beginning of the film, there is a wedding scene with hundreds of extras, period costumes, and even a carriage with horses. Was that the most complicated sequence for you?

Shooting [in general] was very complicated because we wanted to tell this story like it was a fairytale. Like it was a dark fairytale. Since [we started planning the movie], we decided [to film] as though it could all just be a dream or a nightmare. It was very difficult to find the balance between real and more abstract. More surreal. I would say the style is magic realism, but it was very difficult to find it.

Even though obsession and fame seem like pretty universal themes, do you find that American viewers have responded to the film differently than European audiences have?

No, fortunately. We wanted to tell a story that could affect people anywhere. It is a story that can be understood by everyone. It talks about faith.

What is next for you? Is there any chance that you would make an American film?

Yes, but I am waiting for the right opportunity. I am not in a rush to do it. When it will happen, I would love to do it. This is my last trip [to the U.S. for Reality]. After this, I go back to Rome and start to write and look for a new challenge.